My Demon Friends

"Hey, Brother Nan, what are you up to?" Zhou Li asked.

"Nothing much!" Brother Nan's voice didn't sound much different from usual, just a bit more lethargic. "Just lying in bed, playing on my phone."

"How's your cold coming along?"

"It's almost gone."

"Is that so? Then come on out for a meal."

"I don't want to come out."

"Why? Is it because your cold isn't better yet?"

"I've already had dinner."

"I see. Well, I just got back from my sister's place. I brought over some Wensi Tofu, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Nine Turns Intestines, and San Bu Zhan. Recently, Chunming has been hosting a Culinary Exchange Conference with many famous chefs from all over the country, and my sister specially invited a few of them..."

"Where are you?"

"I haven't finished talking," Zhou Li said calmly.

"Hurry up, stop rambling."

"I'm already in Qiu Yuan. Come on out. It's windy outside, so wear something thick, or you won't get any food."

"Rambling on and on!"

Zhou Li locked his bike in a dark corner where the streetlights didn't reach. Almost as soon as he stepped out, he saw a tall figure in a down jacket sprinting from the female dorms, her flip-flops making a SLAP-SLAP sound. She showed no signs of a severe cold.

Brother Nan stopped beside Zhou Li. Looking at his empty hands, she was somewhat confused. "Where's the food?"

"Oh, it's at home. I didn't bring it over."

"Then why did you call me out?"

"Let's go there to eat."

"This..." Brother Nan seemed a bit troubled, but only a bit. "Alright. It's only just past eight, anyway."

"Go change your slippers."

"No need." Brother Nan patted herself down, pulled keys from her jeans pocket, and made a move to unlock her bicycle.

"I didn't come by bicycle," Zhou Li said.

"Then how did you get here?"

"By taxi."

"No worries, I'll give you a ride!"

"Let's take a cab," Zhou Li said, looking straight at Brother Nan. He noticed her face was a bit red. He wasn't sure if she had a fever, but the cowlick on her head looked somewhat wilted. She was obviously forcing herself to appear normal.

"Why?"

"Because..." Zhou Li thought for a moment. "I've heard that cars these days are all automatic, quite different from the ones at driving school. This is a good chance for us to see how an automatic car is driven. Otherwise, we might buy one someday and not even know how to drive it."

"Makes sense!" Brother Nan agreed.

"I've called a Didi. We can get in over there," Zhou Li said. "Go change your shoes first. Your cold isn't fully better yet."

"Such a fuss..."

Brother Nan muttered as she walked back to the dorm.

She lived on the first floor, which was convenient, so she quickly changed her shoes and came back out.

Zhou Li started walking, and she hurried to follow.

「A few minutes later—」

Is this guy crazy? Brother Nan thought. Was it necessary to set the Didi drop-off so far away?

Until… she saw the school hospital.

Brother Nan stopped in her tracks, staring incredulously at Zhou Li. Everything clicked in an instant. "You've been setting me up!?"

Zhou Li didn't speak, only grabbed Brother Nan's arm and dragged her toward the hospital.

"What are you doing? I told you, I don't need to go to the hospital! Drinking a packet of cold remedy would be fine. COUGH. COUGH. COUGH..." Brother Nan resisted weakly against Zhou Li. "I'm telling you, the only reason I'm not using more force is because I don't want to pull you down! This happens every year. It takes over a week to get better whether I take medicine or not. I already know the pattern!"

"Let go!"

"I'm almost better!"

"If you don't let go, I'll hit you..."

"Wow, you're quite strong!"

Once inside the hospital, Brother Nan stopped making a fuss. She simply squatted down, legs together, and let Zhou Li drag her across the floor tiles.

You know, this is actually kind of fun.

Brother Nan barely cracked a smile.

But when Zhou Li looked back at her, she immediately withdrew her smile and continued to reason with him, "My grandma has only ever taken one packet of cold remedy for her colds her entire life..."

"And that's why she got Alzheimer's."

"You really deserve a beating!"

"Oh."

「About ten minutes later—」

The doctor held the thermometer up to the light. Brother Nan was cooperative now, eagerly watching the doctor.

"Fever, and not a mild one," the doctor said. "Do you want to take medication or get an injection?"

"Which will heal quicker?" Zhou Li asked.

"The injection," the doctor said. "Her cold is quite severe. Most people recover slowly with medication. An injection works much faster, usually easing symptoms almost immediately, though it varies from person to person."

"Then let's go with the injection." Zhou Li glanced at Brother Nan. Seeing she didn't say anything, apparently agreeing to let him speak for her, he thought for a moment and added, "Give her a strong one, and pick the most painful type."

He got hit for that.

But Zhou Li wasn't bothered at all.

Brother Nan was quickly pulled into the inner room to get her injection, although she was resistant. When she came out rubbing her backside, she saw Zhou Li gleefully asking if it hurt and couldn't help but give him another whack.

The doctor smiled kindly. "For the next few days, don't eat greasy or spicy foods, especially spicy ones. Don't stay up late, eat more fruits and vegetables, and make sure to rest and get enough nutrition."

"Thank you, Doctor."

The two walked out, their shadows gradually elongating in the white light.

There was no one else at the entrance of the campus hospital. Zhou Li couldn't help but touch her forehead. "You're really something. A cold and a fever, yet you're still bouncing around like a little monkey."

"Who do you think I, Old Li, am?!"

"TSK. TSK."

Since I've already touched her forehead, out of respect, I should probably touch her cowlick too. It's so close, after all, Zhou Li thought.

SLAP!

Brother Nan slapped his hand away, taking a deep breath. "How many times have I told you, don't touch, don't touch! Why don't you ever listen? There are so many people watching out here!"

"Who's out here?"

"Talking back to me, are you?"

"Got it," Zhou Li paused before asking, "Have you been sleeping in the dorm all this time?"

"Nonsense, I was playing games!" Brother Nan refused to admit defeat. But seeing Zhou Li's expression, she realized something was off.

"Did your cousin snitch on me again?"

"No way."

"Heh! So you two are in cahoots now!" Brother Nan glanced sideways at Zhou Li. "I still didn't manage to get her to submit last night..."

"Really, no."

"Still lying to me!"

"How would I dare lie to you?"

"Don't even try it! You, Zhou Lili, have a lot of nerve! You just lied to me!" Brother Nan was still fuming about this. "Where's the delicious food?"

"You should go rest..." Zhou Li saw Brother Nan's eyes widen instantly and quickly added, "You just had an injection. I'll bring everything to you tomorrow."

"Can those dishes be kept overnight? We should eat them while they're hot!" Brother Nan walked with a slight limp. "Where's the taxi you called?"

"Haven't called it yet."

"I..."

Brother Nan raised her hand as if to hit him.

Zhou Li remained cool and composed.

「Twenty minutes later.」

Zhou Li opened the door and let Brother Nan go in first.

He had already told Huai Xu to split the dishes into two portions. Tuanzi typically had eyes bigger than her stomach; a fifth of each dish would have been more than enough for her. So, even though Tuanzi had already eaten, the dishes still looked mostly untouched.

Zhou Li handed Brother Nan some chopsticks. When Brother Nan started eating, he took out an orange and began to peel it.

"Good! Much better than what my dad makes!"

"Brother Nan, today at Hong Ran's place, I played a driving arcade game..." Huai Xu described excitedly, gesticulating wildly. "Have you ever played that type of game?"

"No. Is it expensive?"

"I'm planning to buy one."

"Cool! Buy it, and I'll come over to play."

"I just went out and bought a PS4, and a few games. How about we pull an all-nighter?" Huai Xu proposed again.

"AHEM!" Zhou Li's face was expressionless.

"Oh."

"Oh."

The human and the Demon both said "oh," looking at each other.

Zhou Li finished peeling the orange, cleanly removing all the pith, and handed it to Brother Nan. "This is a Dekopon orange. My sister grew them. It seems even tastier than the ones from the mountains in our hometown."

"Does your sister run a farm?" Brother Nan asked, noticing two large bags of oranges at the foot of the wall.

"Probably something even more impressive."

"This tofu is good, but it's a bit too bland." Brother Nan hesitated for a moment. "Do you have any chili oil at home? Could you add a couple of spoonfuls for me?"

"?"

"No, thanks, never mind..."

"How are you feeling now?" Zhou Li asked softly.

"Much better. Injections really do work fast." Brother Nan had already forgotten how, just half an hour ago, she had been reluctant to take medicine or get an injection. Now she felt the injection was as wonderful as the feast on the table.

"Didn't you have dinner?" Zhou Li looked at her.

"I did. Your cousin brought me a cup of preserved egg and pork congee, Qian Qian brought me some Tang Yuan, and Mianmian bought me a duck neck, but your cousin confiscated it," Brother Nan explained, stumbling over her words a bit. "None of those are very filling."

"I see."

Zhou Li glanced up slightly and saw Brother Nan's cowlick had curled into a loop. He instinctively reached out to straighten it. It's more amusing when it stands tall and proud on her head, fluttering in the wind!

With just a touch, it stood up straight!

"Hmm..."

Zhou Li, finding it amusing, suddenly looked down at her expression and quickly explained, "I was just trying to straighten it for you..."

Brother Nan glared at him, teeth clenched.

She was somewhat puzzled. Why can't this guy ever learn his lesson?